Loss
I was seeing the world from a completely different point of view when I left Eren's room.
Now, I had to find some opportunities to learn more about... well, pretty much anything I could. Yet, I did not know where to start... Perhaps talking to Nuan could be an easy first step in my quest.
I walked upstairs and figured where Nuan was. I knocked on the door and entered. The room was sort of similar to that of Eren's, except the number of books weren't as impressive.
"Oh, Commander?" Nuan said. "Don't worry about me, I am okay!" she chuckled. In return, I gave her my deadly stare.
"Oh, so... that's not why you are here?" she lowered her voice.
"I wanted to talk about something." I said.
"Uhm... sure?" she got up from her chair and walked closer, playing with her carefully made hair on the way.
"I want to learn more about what you talked during the first meeting with the Alliance diplomats." I said.
"Oh, that..." she paused a bit. "Well, they greeted our convoy, then we went to the palace... Then I stated the Republic's intention of increasing the level of our strategic relations, they demanded free trade between the Republic and all the Alliance nations, and we almost had a research agreement but it was postponed to be discussed at a later date. That's the basic outlines of it."
"Anything about the Federation? At all?" I asked.
"Hmm..." she started thinking. "We exchanged opinions on the four countries that just left the Federation."
"What did they say?" I asked.
"The Alliance nations think that this can postpone a possible land war between the Federation and Alliance, but on the other hand... It is hard to believe that they found confidence to become independent in the middle of two superpowers." Nuan said.
"So... The Alliance nations DO know that the Federation wants war with them?" I asked.
"Yeah, the Alliance is convinced about that..." she said. "They are still thinking that they can avoid it instead of finding allies, and this is what bugs the Republic so much. If we just united, the Federation could rethink their actions."
"Do you think we could learn more from those four ex-Federation countries?"
"They certainly know more than us, but they would never cooperate with us at this moment." Nuan said. "Unless..."
"Unless?"
"Unless the Federation becomes hostile to those 'traitors' as well, in which case they will need strong allies on their side." Nuan said.
"Do you think the Feds would do that?"
"Not if those four do anything stupid to antagonize the Feds, like helping us out." Nuan said. "They don't pose a military threat to the Federation itself right now."
"But they do have at least some secrets of the Federation." I said.
"Yes."
"Well then..." I said. "Thank you for the information. I will be going now."
"Hey." Nuan stopped me. "Why did you ask about all this just now?"
"I..." I stopped and taught of an answer for a minute.
"You?"
"I... wanted to know more about our relationship with the Alliance. To make sure the security applies the protocols accordingly." I said.
"Makes sense, I guess..." Nuan said.
"Well, I am leaving now." I said and opened the door to get out.
"Hope to see you again!" Nuan said behind me. I didn't think much of it at first and walked away, but then, after a few steps, I froze. What was that even supposed to mean?
Ignoring my thoughts about Nuan, I got downstairs to talk to the HQ again. I had a great idea.
"Please wait... On encrypted channel, this is Olympus Mons Navy Headquarters."
There was a few minutes of transmission delay between Mars and Earth, so speaking between planets was a real pain.
"I am Commander Kagan of the Republic's embassy to the Alliance, I would like to speak with the Grand Admiral." I said.
"Unfortunately, the Grand Admiral is busy at this time. If you would like to send a message, please use the encrypted fragment-text channel."
"When do you think that I can talk to the Grand Admiral?" I asked.
"I can not guess precisely, Commander." the person on the other side replied. "We have too much in our hands right now."
"What is going on?" I asked.
"We recently lost contact with our flagship Olympia orbiting Ceres during an engagement. The fleet is retreating, so we will need some time to figure things out."
I was shocked. How could a whole fleet of people lose a small district-sized ship in the middle of Republic territory?
"You did WHAT!?" I couldn't control my excitement.
"Commander, if this is all you have to say, I need to close the channel. There is too much random chatter on the fleet channels already. I hope you understand."
"Aye." I said. The channel closed. I froze there in front of the comms station for a while, looking around.
"What is it, Commander?"
This was Eren's voice behind me.
"Sir, I need to travel to one of the ex-Federation countries." I said.
"Now, calm down my friend." he said. "There is no need to rush into action. You can't get information using brute force."
"We are barely going to figure anything out here." I said.
"Slow down, fellow." Eren said. "First, tell me about what you heard on the comms station."
"I do not know if I am supposed to say this, but since information is your job, I think you are supposed to know anyway..." I said. "The Navy lost contact with the flagship Olympia, near Ceres. Also, the fleet is retreating."
Eren didn't say anything about it. He was thinking.
"You simply CAN NOT lose a ship that big, advanced and important." I commented instead of him.
"Sometimes..." said Eren. "I think we should just let go of the honor, pride, glory and do the reasonable thing. We could just surrender for the good of our people... It is the hunger for power that leads us into chaos."
"I know." I said. "We know. Almost the entire Navy high command opposed the desicion. It was no use."
"I only hope, when this is all over, I won't end up in a prison." he said. "Look, Commander... Just like you do, I love the Republic. I love my homeland. But... this struggle is hopeless. You now have every chance to run from here, and start a new life on Earth with a completely new identity. Without war. Without death or politics. In the end, there will be no one to judge you, or even know about you. You can go and be a simple rice farmer. Think about it! The Republic is in it's last days. You can still save yourself."
"I will say, it is really tempting." I said. "But those people back there on Mars trust me so much, and we are willing to risk our lives for each other. Besides, because of the simple fact that I am a Navy officer, I have a promise to my people and my homeland. This isn't something I can ignore."
"I understand, and congratulate you." Eren said. "So, Commander... You want to travel to an ex-Federation country, huh?"
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